House approves biometrics listing bill -MANILA, PHILIPPINES

MANILA, PHILIPPINES

THE HOUSE of Representatives approved on second reading on Tuesday a bill that seeks to clean the voter record in preparation for the midterm elections in 2013.

The Web site of the Bills and Index service stated that House Bill 3469 requires all voters to have their biometrics data — photographs, fingerprints and signature — taken by an election officer.

The bill, aside from ensuring that the Automated Fingerprint Identification System will identify double registrants and other irregularities, is seen to also discourage cheating.

Data from the Commission on Elections (Comelec) showed that there were 704,542 voters with double or multiple registration in May 2010 general elections.

The bill defines such voters as those registered in more than one city or municipality.

Only half of the 50.8 million voters have biometrics data, the Comelec said.

The bill seeks to prohibit those without biometrics data from voting.

Those without biometrics data are currently allowed to update records under Republic Act 8189 which allowed continuing voter listing.

After the mandatory electronic registration of voters, the Comelec will come up with a single, official, and centralized list. The data can be shared with other agencies.

Sought for comment, Comelec spokesperson and Director Arthur James B. Jimenez said in text message: “The mandatory capture of biometrics information for all registered voters is a cornerstone of the Comelec campaign to clean up the list of voters.”